DeSantis Delays Florida Map Redraw, Adds AI, Vaccine Fight

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has briefly postponed the state’s planned special session on redistricting, delaying a high-stakes fight over congressional maps as Republicans weigh how aggressively to redraw the state’s lines.

Late Wednesday, DeSantis reset the session for April 28, pushing it back from Monday, April 20. In addition to redistricting, he is calling lawmakers back to Tallahassee to take up a contentious vaccine measure and an “AI Bill of Rights” that failed to clear the legislature during the regular session.

The special session is scheduled to finish on Friday, May 1.

Florida has emerged as a key front in a broader redistricting fight after months of back-and-forth moves in Democrat- and Republican-led states. DeSantis first called for a mid-decade redraw in January, and lawmakers had been preparing to return next week to consider a new map.

The governor is expected to pursue changes that could add between two and five Republican-leaning seats, with potential implications for control of the House ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The delay links Florida more closely to developments in Virginia, where voters are set to decide April 21 whether to approve a more aggressive map backed by Democrats that could net the party up to four additional seats.

The move broadens the scope of the special session, adding two politically sensitive issues to lawmakers’ agenda.

DeSantis is reviving his “AI Bill of Rights,” a proposal that stalled earlier this year as state House leaders signaled hesitation and pointed to alignment with President Donald Trump on leaving regulation to the federal government.

He is pressing lawmakers to pass a measure that would expand the exemptions parents can use to opt their children out of school vaccine requirements.

Florida House Republicans haven’t said whether they will support either issue during the special session.